English Nursery Rhyme and Call for Commerce Wins Ressie Jeffries Students a Discount at Down Home Comfort Bakery

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters, give them to your sons.

One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns!

Bright and early on the morning of Friday, April 4, Ressie Jeffries students performed “Hot Cross Buns”, a song with historical significance, on their recorders, at Down Home Comfort Bakery on Main Street, where they would receive a discount on hot cross buns for their performance. This was a demo run of an opportunity that Ressie Jeffries students have on April 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th to stop by the bakery with their recorders and receive a discount on hot cross buns by performing the iconic song.

“I got the idea to partner with a local bakery when one of my music teacher friends in another state shared that one of their local bakeries was actually handing out hot cross buns to anyone who came in and played the song on a recorder,” said music teacher Kimberly Okland to the Royal Examiner. “I wasn’t about to ask any business to give away products, but I thought working with a local bakery for a discount might be workable. Down Home Comfort Bakery was the first one I called, and Mrs. Menefee agreed to provide students with a discount if they played.”

Ressie Jeffries students perform “Hot Cross Buns” on their recorders for a discount at Down Home Comfort Bakery. (L) to (R): Raina Hansen, Emma Collins, Kyelin Caison, Addisyn Mousbrey, Mackenzie Emerson, Ryla Flood-Lyerly. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

“Hot Cross Buns” was a street cry chanted by vendors as a call to commerce in nineteenth-century England that was later preserved as a nursery rhyme and a tool for musical education. According to Wikipedia, “It refers to the spiced English confection known as a hot cross bun, which is associated with the end of Lent and is eaten on Good Friday in various countries.” Okland shared her pedagogical method: “I always bring in a package of hot cross buns to show students what they look like when we learn the song and share the history of the song.

Music teacher Kimberly Okland directs the recorder players in their rendition of “Hot Cross Buns”.

The other thing I do is try to come up with creative ways to practice. We stand on one leg, kneel down, lay on our backs, do the bicycle while we’re playing, etc.” She also said: “‘Hot Cross Buns’ is one of the first songs that many beginner musicians learn, especially recorder players. It’s also one of those earworms that stays with you. I have actually had former students come to me in the grocery store and recite the pitches for the song to show me they still remember. When we begin our recorder unit, students will come in and tell me that their mom or dad or brother or sister taught them how to play ‘Hot Cross Buns’ because they still remember how to play it on the recorder.”

An owner of the bakery, Maureen Menefee, stands behind the counter of her establishment.

Ressie students who go in and play the song “Hot Cross Buns” for the bakery will receive a 15% discount on a package of hot cross buns. They can go in after school on April 10th or 11th or anytime on Saturday, April 12th.